Jane Gillis B.Sc.(Pharm), Pharm.D.
Disclosure
I have no real or potential conflicts of
interest to disclose.
Minor Ailment Prescribing
How do I fit this into my already busy workflow?
How long does this take?
Will patients pay?
Will there be a demand for this service?
How does this “fit” into the delivery of health care in NS?
Do I have the knowledge to do this?
What will physician’s think?
How is this different from what we do already when recommending OTCs?
Evaluation of the Provision of Minor Ailment
Services in the Pharmacy Setting Pilot Study
Q:
What are the measurable benefits of pharmacists
lead minor ailment services to patient, the pharmacy
and the health system as a whole?
Evidence to help
• Support the implementation of these service
• Demonstrate the value of these service
• Educate public and other health care providers of the role of the
pharmacist
Study Timeline
• January & February – study design and background
•
•
•
•
research
March –pharmacy recruitment (27)
April & May – study set-up and preparation
May 21- Aug 16 –study duration
Aug 16- Sept 30 – data evaluation
Study implementation
Geographic Distribution of Participating Pharmacies
52% independent/banner : 48% large chain
52% urban :
48% rural
Pharmacy Preparation and Support
• Training and orientation session
• Documentation and data collection materials
(study protocol)
• Website and online forum
• Including access to online references
• Promotional material – public/physician
• Regular teleconferences and access to research
team for help
Preparation:
Review therapeutics and assessment
knowledge
• Identify the minor ailments you are comfortable
addressing
• Identify resources available
• Discuss with colleagues
• Review your provincial standards and requirements
• Documentations
• Consent
• Additional training
• Other requirements
Why should pharmacists prescribe?
• Minor Ailment assessment is within a pharmacist’s area of
expertise:
• Pharmacists are generally under-utilized
• Recognized by regulations in Nova Scotia for all pharmacists
• Minor ailments are usually non-emergent
• Appropriate use of sometimes limited resources
• Pharmacists are able to assess whether treatment would
be beneficial – either OTC or prescription OR when to
refer to a MD because of red flags
• Helps make sure people are seeing the doctor who may have
otherwise gone without medical care
• Helps make sure the right people are seeing the doctor
Access to Care Sooner
• 96% of respondents said the service helped them gain
access to care sooner
Where would you have gone if this service was not available?
n=58, 10%
n=26, 4%
n=51, 9%
Your family physician
Walk-in clinic
Emergency room
Other
Sought no help
n=116, 20%
n=335, 57%
“Allowing pharmacists to treat minor
ailments will provide patients with faster,
high quality care without compromising
patient safety.”
Ryan R. Persuad, Pharmacy Student-Manitoba , Pers J RP
The Process of Minor Ailment Prescribing
Identify patient’s needs
Explain the process
Obtain consent
Establish the environment
Conduct an appropriate detailed assessment
Recommendation
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
•
•
Write the prescription, OTC recommendation or refer
Joint decision making
Establish monitoring parameters and plan
Notify primary care provider
Complete follow-up
7.
8.
9.
•
Notify primary care giver again – if necessary
10. Document and maintain documentation
1. Identify the Patient’s needs
• Patients will either:
• Self identify OR
• Be identified by a pharmacist
52% self-referred
43% pharmacist recruited
2% MD referred
4% other
Comparison
OTC recommendation
• Semi private
• Quick assessment
• OTC Product
recommendation or
referral
• No (minimal) follow up
• No (minimal) documentation
• No (minimal)
communication with
primary care giver
Minor Ailment
Prescribing
• Private
• Semi-detailed
assessment
• OTC, Prescription written
+/- dispensed or referral
• Follow-up
• Documentation
• Communication with
primary care giver
Prescription or OTC???
Quickly figure out:
What are they trying to treat? (i.e. is it a minor aliment)
What was already tried? When? And did it work?
Is a minor ailment assessment
appropriate?
Outcome of Assessment
2. Explain the process
• As a pharmacist, I am able to prescribe medications such
as (specific medication/ medication category) for (specific
condition).
• We would need to sit down in private for about 10-15
minutes.
• Your input is important so we are able to determine the
best course of action for you, which may involve a
prescription therapy.
Study findings
• 1002 patients
• Evenly distributed independent/chair AND
uran/rural (approx 50:50)
• Per store recruitment range 11-87 patients
• 64% female
• Bulk 19-65 yo
Facilitating factors: no cost to patient; lack of access to MDs,
marketing material from PANS, online resources, whole team approach,
and “it got easier the more you did”.
All pharmacy staff have a role!
THE HAND OFF:
The patient agrees- consider hand off to the Pharmacy
Assistant to (1) obtain consent and (2) collect/reconcile
medication history and allergies
Good chance to refresh knowledge and get papers
organized.
It was really helpful to
have the technicians
involved, so the
technicians could explain
what the minor ailment
assessment was, and
how the pharmacist could
do it. And they could also
take some of the history,
so it helped to decrease
the time once you got
into the counselling room
to do the assessment.
We’re constantly talking
about it every day
throughout the day, and it’s
a reminder to our
pharmacy cashiers or to
our technicians, FYI, we’re
looking for a minor ailment
today.
3. Obtain Consent
Guidelines in provincial standards.
In NS patients must agree to:
• the pharmacist completing an assessment
• prescription therapy if appropriate as well as
authorization to dispense the medication
• the pharmacist communicating with other health care
providers for information as required and to notify their
primary care giver of the prescription and any follow-up
results
• the pharmacist monitoring therapy
• the pharmacist maintaining documentation required by
law
NSCP Standards of Practice: Prescribing of Drugs by Pharmacists
24
Must also be
Noted here
4. Establish the Environment
• Make sure the room/counselling area is
• professional (looks like a consult room not a broom closet)
• clutter free
• private
5. Conduct an Assessment
(or confirm patient’s self-diagnosis)
• Confirm contact info, medications, medical conditions and
allergies
• Symptoms
• Objective and Subjective, physical findings if applicable
• Duration and severity?
• Recurrent vs new? Presence of risk factors?
• What was tried for treatment?
• Any red flags?
• Drugs, medical conditions, severe or inconsistent sx, etc
Pharmacists Resources- feedback from PhCs
• We really appreciated the subscription to e-Therapeutics Complete.
• The Saskatchewan guidelines were a good starting point, for sure, just
to help you feel comfortable initially prescribing.
• I’ve been out for 20 years, and I find it very helpful . . . I think for
people who have any reluctance at all to undertake prescribing and
feel like, oh well, I’ve been dispensing for so long, how do I step out
of the dispensing, and how do I move into more of a clinical
perspective? Having those simple tools will really make it easier, so I
think that would be valuable.
• They [treatment algorithms] really limit you though, while they’re
great to have, it really locks you in to particular drugs and particular
questions.
6. Make the recommendation
• Pharmacist should create a shared decision making
environment
• Involve the patient in the decision making
• Pharmacists will likely be required to write and sign if a
prescription is written
• Patients are not required to have it filled in your dispensary
• Review non-pharm recommendations and medication
information when prescribing
• Referral is just as important as an outcome!!
Minor Ailments Assessed
Smoking Cessation
Warts (excluding facial and genital)
Nausea
Nasal Congestion
Mild Headache
Dandruff
Calluses and Corns
Dysmenorrhea
Non-infectious Diarrhea
Cough
Sore Throat
Threadworms and Pinworms
Impetigo
Minor Sleep Disorders
Mild Acne
Xerophthalmia (dry eyes)
Oral Ulcers
Hemorrhoids
Oral Fungal Infection (thrush)
Minor Muscle Pain
Mild Urticaria (including bites and stings)
Contact Allergic Dermatitis
Vaginal Candidiasis
Gastro-ecophageal Reflux Disease
Fungal Infections of the Skin
Mild to Moderate Eczema
Allergic Rhinitis
Herpes Simplex
n=1, 0.1%
n=2, 0.2%
n=2, 0.2%
n=2, 0.2%
n=2, 0.2%
n=3, 0.3%
n=3, 0.3%
n=4, 0.4%
n=5, 0.5%
n=5, 0.5%
n=8, 0.8%
n=10, 1.0%
n=17, 1.7%
n=20, 2.0%
n=26, 2.6%
n=32, 3.2%
n=39, 3.9%
n=43, 4.3%
n=48, 4.8%
n=56, 5.6%
n=56, 5.6%
n=58, 5.8%
n=59, 5.9%
n=60, 6.0%
n=62, 6.2%
n=63, 6.3%
Average time of assessment
: 15 minutes
n=149, 14.9%
n= 167, 16.7%
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
7. Establish Monitoring Parameters and
Plan
Identify:
• Therapeutic goal or outcome (WHAT is monitored and
WHEN goal should be reached)
• Should be measurable
• Monitoring process (WHO will monitor)
• Patient communication requirements (WHAT to do IF….)
• Follow up date
• Who is responsible for follow-up
8. Notify Primary Care Provider
• This can be done with a form (may be provided as part of
the provincial standards)
• Communicate:
• Patient information
• Prescription information (date, details, rational and
communication/instructions)
• Follow-up plan
• Pharmacist information
32
9. Complete Follow-up
Determine process to pre-book follow-up
• Calendar (Outlook)
• Pharmacy Software
• iphone, blackberry device
Best if there was a reminder….
• Alarm
• Print report every morning
Average time for follow-up: 5 minutes; 89% report problem resolved
10. Document
Documentation is a must – standards may vary from
province to province but should include:
• General patient information and documentation of
consent
• Assessment findings
• Prescribing decision and rationale
• Instructions given to patient
• Monitoring plan
• Information to allow other pharmacist to provide
continuing care
• Date and method of notifying primary health care
provider
• Follow-up notes (date and what was
discussed/outcomes)
Preparation
Team Engagement
• Everyone has a role
• Pharmacists
• Pharmacy Assistants
• Others who work in the pharmacy
• Think about your work flow – how do you
incorporate this into a busy dispensary
• Create awareness – talk it up!
• Collaborate with other health care providers
Workflow –what helped with
implementation?
• Change patient expectations
• Being organized (materials ready to go)
• Pharmacy technician involvement
• Adding the assessment to the regular workflow –
queued with Rx
It was still identified as one of the largest barriers –
especially pharmacies without PhC overlap
Pharmacist Confidence
“The ease at which it was integrated into the regular
workflow routine at our store was great. At first, there was a
bit of hesitation as to how we’re going to do this, you know,
especially at times that didn’t have much overlap. But we
quickly found that it can be very easily integrated into
workflow routine, the identification, the performing of the
assessments with great positive feedback from the
patients. The more you did, the easier it got.”
What did patients think?
• 59% of participants completed and submitted a survey
How beneficial was the Minor Ailment Assessment Service?
Not Beneficial
0%, n=1
Neutral
1%, n=4
Somewhat Beneficial
99% said they would use
the service again!
3%, n=18
Beneficial
17%, n=98
Very Beneficial
79%, n=464
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
Patient feedback (qualitative)
• They recognized the value of the service
• They appreciated that it was very accessible, fast
and convenient
• Many said it was their only option for immediate
care
• Patient’s valued the pharmacist’s skills and
knowledge and trusted them as health care
providers
“I was really thrilled with this as it
was an ailment that I had before and
knew how well the Rx worked. It was
going to take ages to see my family
doctor and a large piece out of my
day for a non-life-threatening illness
that nevertheless makes me
completely miserable.”
Patient’s ability to pay
• 30% said they WOULD NOT pay out of pocket
• Two tiered health care – should be covered
• Fixed or low income – should be provided by
provincial medical insurance
• They would just wait and go to the doctor where
it is free
• 70% said they WOULD be willing to pay for the
service
• On average $18.95 (range $3 -$120)
Two closing thoughts from patients:
“Awesome program. Wonderful service that will
free up physicians to deal with more serious
matters.”
“This is a brilliant service. A step in the right
direction for our health care system.”